CN116137378A - Antennas and Electronics - Google Patents

Abstract

An antenna and electronic device are provided. The antenna includes a pair of radiating elements, including first and second radiating elements arranged in a circular array, the first and second radiating elements are arranged symmetrically with respect to a line of symmetry, the line of symmetry passes through the central point of the circular array, and the first radiating element Or the second radiating element is in the shape of an arc centered on the center point, or extends along the tangent direction of the arc centered on the center point; and the feeding structure includes first and second feeding parts, and the first feeding part coupled to the first radiating element and used to provide the first radiating element with a first excitation current having a first phase and a first amplitude, the second feeding part is coupled to the second radiating element and used to provide the second radiating element with a first excitation current A second excitation current of two phases and a second magnitude. In this way, antennas with mixed modes can be realized.

Description

Antennas and Electronics

technical field

This application mainly relates to the field of antennas. More specifically, the present application relates to an antenna and an electronic device including the antenna.

Background technique

A wireless access point (access point, AP) is an access point that uses wireless devices (mobile devices such as mobile phones and wireless devices such as laptops) to access wired networks. It provides wireless signal coverage, which is equivalent to connecting wired networks and wireless networks. Bridge, which adds wireless capabilities to an existing wired network by bridging traffic from the wireless network into the wired network. Wireless access points are mainly used in broadband homes, inside buildings, campuses, parks, warehouses, factories and other places that require wireless monitoring. The typical distance covers tens of meters to hundreds of meters, and it can also be used for long-distance transmission. Most wireless APs also have an access point client mode, which can wirelessly connect with other APs to extend the coverage of the network.

The deployment of wireless AP depends on factors such as the place where the AP is set up and the shape of the building. Different places of use will lead to inconsistent AP deployment heights and spacing. A wireless AP needs an antenna to provide wireless signal coverage. However, for conventional APs, the radiation pattern of the antenna is usually fixed, which makes it difficult to cope with diverse scenarios, and may easily cause problems such as coverage blind spots or signal interference from neighboring APs.

Contents of the invention

The present application provides a compact antenna and associated electronics capable of implementing hybrid modes.

In a first aspect of the present application, an antenna is provided. The antenna includes a pair of radiating elements and a feed structure. The radiating element pair includes a first radiating element and a second radiating element arranged in a circular array. The first radiating element and the second radiating element are arranged symmetrically with respect to a line of symmetry passing through a central point of the circular array, and the first radiating element or the second radiating element is in the form of the An arc with the center point as the center, or extending along a tangent direction of the arc with the center point as the center. The feeding structure includes a first feeding part and a second feeding part. The first feeding part is coupled to the first radiating element and configured to provide a first excitation current having a first phase and a first amplitude to the first radiating element. The second feeder is coupled to the second radiating element and configured to provide a second excitation current having a second phase and a second amplitude to the second radiating element.

By adopting the antenna with this structure, a mixed-mode antenna can be realized. Specifically, the mixed-mode antenna has at least two working modes. In the first working mode, the directions of the excitation currents in the first radiating element and the second radiating element are along the same rotation direction, and at this time, the radiation pattern of the antenna is a wide beam pattern. In the second working mode, the directions of the exciting currents in the first radiating element and the second radiating element are along opposite rotation directions, and at this time, the radiation pattern of the antenna is a narrow beam pattern. Using the antenna with this structure, based on the principle of superposition, the first mode and the second mode can be mixed in any proportion, so as to achieve more beam widths. Furthermore, an omnidirectional antenna with multiple beam widths is realized in a compact structure by arranging the antenna's radiating elements in a circular array.

In an implementation manner, the first excitation current and the second excitation current originate from the same excitation signal. In this way, the feeding of the antenna can be realized in a cost-effective manner. In some alternative implementation manners, the first excitation current and the second excitation current may also be respectively derived from different excitation signals.

In an implementation manner, the antenna further includes a first reflector arranged at the center of the circular array and symmetrical with respect to the center point, and the first reflector is collinear with the symmetry line. This arrangement enables the radiating element pair with a larger radius (for example greater than 1/2 wavelength) annular array to effectively avoid the grating lobe effect caused by the increased distance between the radiating elements, thereby increasing the antenna gain and thereby improving the performance of the antenna .

In an implementation manner, the antenna further includes a second reflector, which is arranged at the center of the annular array and is symmetrical with respect to the center point, and the second reflector is perpendicular to the first reflector. This arrangement can further optimize the performance of the antenna.

In an implementation manner, each of the first radiating element and the second radiating element includes at least two sub-radiating elements, and each of the at least two sub-radiating elements is coupled to a corresponding feeding part. This arrangement allows the first radiator and the second radiator to use different numbers of sub-radiating elements according to different requirements, making the arrangement of the antenna more flexible.

In an implementation manner, the at least one sub-radiating element is in the shape of an arc centered on the center point or at least a part of the at least one sub-radiating element is along the tangent direction of the arc centered on the center point extend. This arrangement facilitates the manufacture of the antenna and its complete coverage of the horizontal plane.

In an implementation manner, the antenna further includes a first parasitic radiating element arranged adjacent to the first radiating element; and a second parasitic radiating element arranged adjacent to the second radiating element. The parasitic radiating element can further optimize the performance of the antenna.

In an implementation manner, the first parasitic radiating element is parallel to the first radiating element; the second parasitic radiating element is parallel to the second radiating element. This arrangement is conducive to the balance of the first radiating element and the second radiating element, thereby further improving the performance of the antenna.

In an implementation manner, the first amplitude and the second amplitude have a predetermined proportional relationship, and the first phase and the second phase have a predetermined angular relationship. In an implementation manner, the above implementation manner may be realized by feeding power with a fixed-ratio power divider. In this manner, the normal zero point in the original first working mode of the antenna can be filled, thereby avoiding signal blind spots.

In an implementation manner, the first amplitude and the second amplitude are adjustable within a range from 0:1 to 1:1 and/or from 1:0 to 1:1. In this way, the beam width of the first radiating element and the second radiating element can be adjusted.

In an implementation manner, the first phase and the second phase are adjusted to be the same or opposite. In this way, the first radiating element and the second radiating element can work in different modes, which is beneficial for changing the beam width.

In an implementation manner, lengths of the first radiating element and the second radiating element in the circumferential direction are each about half of the corresponding wavelength of the working frequency band of the antenna.

In one implementation, the antenna further includes a power splitter, including an input port, a first output port, and a second output port, the excitation signal is input to the power splitter through the input port, and the first output port is coupled to the A first feeder, the second output port is coupled to the second feeder. This arrangement enables the antenna to be realized in an easier and cost-effective manner.

In one implementation, the power divider includes a fixed ratio power divider. In this manner, the normal zero point in the original first working mode of the antenna can be filled, thereby avoiding signal blind spots.

In one implementation, the power divider includes a variable power divider, and at least one of the first phase, the first magnitude, the second phase, and the second magnitude can be adjusted. Real-time adjustment of the antenna, such as beam width, can be achieved by separately feeding excitation currents with adjustable amplitude and adjustable phase through the variable power divider.

A second aspect of the present application provides an electronic device. The electronic device includes the antenna according to the first aspect above; and a radio frequency module, configured to use the antenna for communication.

Description of drawings

The above and other features, advantages and aspects of the various embodiments of the present application will become more apparent with reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals indicate the same or similar elements, wherein:

Figure 1 shows a schematic exploded view of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 shows a simplified schematic top view of an antenna according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 3 shows the radiation, phase and realized variable beam width of the excitation current of the antenna according to the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 shows a current pattern and a radiation pattern of an antenna working in a first mode according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 shows a current pattern and a radiation pattern of an antenna working in a second mode according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 shows a radiation pattern diagram of an antenna according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 shows a simplified schematic top view of an antenna according to some embodiments of the present application;

Fig. 8 shows the current pattern of the antenna shown in Fig. 7 in a certain working mode;

Figure 9 shows a simplified schematic top view of an antenna according to some embodiments of the present application; and

FIG. 10 shows a simplified schematic top view of an antenna according to some embodiments of the application.

Detailed ways

Embodiments of the present application will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although certain embodiments of the present application are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the application may be embodied in various forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; A more thorough and complete understanding of the application. It should be understood that the drawings and embodiments of the present application are for exemplary purposes only, and are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present application.

In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the terms "first", "second" and so on may refer to different or the same objects.

It should be understood that in this application, "coupled" can be understood as direct coupling and/or indirect coupling. Direct coupling can also be called "electrical connection", which is understood as the physical contact and electrical conduction of components. It can also be understood as a form in which different components in the circuit structure are connected through physical lines such as printed circuit board (printed circuit board, PCB) copper foil or wires that can transmit electrical signals. "Indirect coupling" can be understood as the electrical conduction of two conductors in a spaced/non-contact manner. In an embodiment, the indirect coupling may also be called capacitive coupling, for example, the equivalent capacitance is formed through the coupling between the gaps between two conductive elements to realize signal transmission.

The terms that may appear in the embodiments of the present application are explained below.

Switching on: Through the above "electrical connection" or "indirect coupling", two or more components are conducted or communicated for signal/energy transmission, which can be called switching on.

Antenna pattern: also known as radiation pattern. It refers to the graph of the relative field strength (normalized modulus) of the antenna radiation field changing with the direction at a certain distance from the antenna. It is usually represented by two mutually perpendicular plane patterns in the maximum radiation direction of the antenna.

Antenna patterns usually have multiple radiation beams. The radiation beam with the largest radiation intensity is called the main lobe, and the remaining radiation beams are called side lobes. Among the side lobes, the side lobe in the opposite direction to the main lobe is also called the back lobe.

Beam width: divided into horizontal beam width and vertical beam width. Among them, the horizontal beam width refers to the angle between the two directions in which the radiation power drops by 3dB on both sides of the maximum radiation direction in the horizontal direction; the vertical beam width refers to the radiation power in the vertical direction on both sides of the maximum radiation direction. The angle between the two directions that drops 3dB.

Ground/floor: It can generally refer to at least a part of any ground layer, or ground metal layer, etc. in an electronic device, or at least a part of any combination of any of the above ground layers, or ground plates, or ground components, etc., "ground/floor" can be used Grounding of components in electronic equipment. In one embodiment, the "ground/floor" may be the ground layer of the circuit board of the electronic device, or the ground plane formed by the middle frame of the electronic device or the ground metal layer formed by the metal film under the screen. In one embodiment, the circuit board may be a printed circuit board (PCB). In one embodiment, the circuit board includes a dielectric substrate, a ground layer and a wiring layer, and the wiring layer and the ground layer can be electrically connected through via holes. In one embodiment, components such as a display, touch screen, input buttons, transmitter, processor, memory, battery, charging circuit, system on chip (SoC) structure, etc. may be mounted on or connected to the circuit board; or Electrically connected to the trace and/or ground planes in the board. For example, the radio frequency module is arranged on the wiring layer.

Any of the above ground planes, or ground planes, or ground metal layers is made of conductive material. In one embodiment, the conductive material can be any one of the following materials: copper, aluminum, stainless steel, brass and their alloys, copper foil on an insulating substrate, aluminum foil on an insulating substrate, gold foil on an insulating substrate, Silver-plated copper, silver-plated copper foil on insulating substrate, silver foil and tin-plated copper on insulating substrate, cloth impregnated with graphite powder, graphite-coated substrate, copper-plated substrate, brass-plated substrate sheets and aluminum-coated substrates. Those skilled in the art can understand that the ground layer/ground plate/ground metal layer can also be made of other conductive materials.

Feed line, also called transmission line, refers to the connection line between the transceiver and the radiating element. The system connecting the antenna's radiating element to the transceiver is called a feed system. Feed lines are further divided into wire transmission lines, coaxial transmission lines, waveguides or microstrip lines, etc. During the transmission process, the modulated high-frequency oscillating current (energy) generated by the transmitter enters the transmitting antenna through the feeder (the feeder can directly transmit current waves or electromagnetic waves depending on the frequency and form), and the transmitting antenna transmits the high-frequency current or Guided waves (energy) are transformed into radio waves - free electromagnetic waves (energy) radiate into the surrounding space. In the receiving process, the radio wave (energy) is converted into high-frequency current or guided wave (energy) by the receiving antenna and transmitted to the receiver through the feeder. It can be seen from the above process that the antenna is not only a device for radiating and receiving radio waves, but also an energy converter and an interface device between circuits and space. The feed end or feed point refers to the end of the radiating element connected to the feed line or near the end.

Impedance and impedance matching: The impedance of an antenna generally refers to the ratio of the voltage to the current at the input of the antenna. Antenna impedance is a measure of the resistance in an antenna to electrical signals. Generally speaking, the input impedance of the antenna is a complex number, the real part is called the input resistance, represented by R; the imaginary part is called the input reactance, represented by Xi. An antenna whose electrical length is much smaller than the working wavelength has a large input reactance, for example, a short dipole antenna has a large capacitive reactance; an electric small loop antenna has a large inductive reactance. The input impedance of a half-wave vibrator with a very thin diameter is about 73.1+i42.5 ohms. In practical applications, in order to facilitate matching, it is generally hoped that the input reactance of the symmetrical oscillator is zero, and the length of the oscillator at this time is called the resonance length. The length of the resonant half-wave oscillator is slightly shorter than the half-wavelength in free space, and it is generally estimated to be 5% shorter in engineering. The input impedance of the antenna is related to factors such as the geometric shape, size, feed point location, working wavelength and surrounding environment of the antenna. When the diameter of the wire antenna is thicker, the change of the input impedance with the frequency is gentler, and the impedance bandwidth of the antenna is wider.

The main purpose of studying the antenna impedance is to realize the matching between the antenna and the feeder. To match the transmitting antenna to the feeder, the input impedance of the antenna should be equal to the characteristic impedance of the feeder. To match the receiving antenna to the receiver, the input impedance of the antenna should be equal to the complex conjugate of the load impedance. Typically receivers have real impedances. When the impedance of the antenna is a complex number, a matching network is required to remove the reactance part of the antenna and make their resistance parts equal.

When the antenna is matched with the feeder, the power transmitted from the transmitter to the antenna or from the antenna to the receiver is the largest. At this time, there will be no reflected waves on the feeder, the reflection coefficient is equal to zero, and the standing wave coefficient is equal to 1. The degree of matching between the antenna and the feed line is measured by the reflection coefficient or standing wave ratio at the input end of the antenna. For the transmitting antenna, if the matching is not good, the radiated power of the antenna will decrease, the loss on the feeder will increase, the power capacity of the feeder will also decrease, and in severe cases, the frequency of the transmitter will be "pulled" Phenomenon that the oscillation frequency changes.

Radiating element: It is a device used to receive/send electromagnetic wave radiation in the antenna. In some cases, an "antenna" is understood in a narrow sense as a radiating element that converts guided wave energy from a transmitter into radio waves, or converts radio waves into guided wave energy, and is used to radiate and receive radio waves. The modulated high-frequency current energy (or guided wave energy) generated by the transmitter is transmitted to the radiating element through the feeder, and is converted into a certain polarized electromagnetic wave energy by the radiating element, and then goes out in the required direction. The receiving radiating element converts a certain polarized electromagnetic wave energy from a specific direction in space into modulated high-frequency current energy, which is sent to the input terminal of the receiver through the feeder.

The radiating element can be a conductor of a specific shape and size, such as a wire antenna. A wire antenna is an antenna composed of one or more metal wires whose wire diameter is much smaller than the wavelength and whose length is comparable to the wavelength. It is mainly used in the long, medium, short wave and ultrashort wave bands as a transmitting or receiving antenna. The main forms of wire antennas are dipole antennas, half-wave vibrator antennas, cage antennas, monopole antennas, whip antennas, tower antennas, spherical antennas, magnetic antennas, V-shaped antennas, rhombus antennas, fishbone antennas, and Yagi antennas. Antenna, log-periodic antenna, antenna array, etc. (see non-directional antenna, weak directional antenna, strong directional antenna). For dipole antennas, each dipole antenna generally includes two radiating stubs, each of which is fed by a feeding part from a feeding end of the radiating stub.

The radiating elements may also be slots or slots formed in the conductor. For example, an antenna formed by slits on a conductor surface is called a slot antenna or a slot antenna. A typical slit shape is long and about half a wavelength long. The slot can be fed by a transmission line across its narrow sides, or by a waveguide or resonant cavity. At this time, a radio frequency electromagnetic field is excited on the gap, and electromagnetic waves are radiated into space.

In addition, the limitations on positions and distances mentioned in the present application, such as the middle or the middle position, are all aimed at the current technological level, rather than absolutely strict definitions in the mathematical sense. For example, the middle position of the conductor refers to the midpoint of the conductor. In practical application, it means that the connection between other components (such as feeder lines and ground stubs) and the conductor covers the midpoint. The middle position of the slot or the middle position of one side of the slot refers to the midpoint of one side of the slot. In practice, it means that the connection between other components (such as feeder lines) and the side covers the midpoint. The fact that a gap is provided at the middle of one side of the groove means in practical application that the gap at the position of the side covers the midpoint of the side.

The feed point mentioned above in the present application may refer to any point in the connection area (also referred to as the connection point) between the feed line and the radiating element, such as a central point. The distance from a point (such as a feeding point, a connection point, a grounding point) to a slot or from a slot to a point may be the distance from the point to the midpoint of the slot, or the distance from the point to the two ends of the slot.

The current co-direction/reverse distribution mentioned in the above content of this application should be understood as the direction of the main current on the conductors on the same side being the same direction/reverse direction. For example, when a circular conductor is excited to distribute current in the same direction (for example, the current path is also circular), it should be understood that on the conductors on both sides of the circular conductor (such as the conductor surrounding a gap, in the gap Although the main current excited on the conductors on both sides is reversed in direction, it still belongs to the definition of the current distributed in the same direction in this application.

The technical solution provided by this application is applicable to electronic equipment using one or more of the following communication technologies: Bluetooth (Blue-tooth, BT) communication technology, Global Positioning System (Global Positioning System, GPS) communication technology, wireless local area network (WLAN) Communication technology, cellular network communication technology, etc. The electronic equipment in the embodiment of this application may include equipment directly connected to the operator's network at the front end of the user, including but not limited to: wireless access points, telephones, wireless routers, firewalls, computers, optical modems, and wireless routers from 4G to WiFi wait. The electronic devices in the embodiments of the present application may also include mobile phones, tablet computers, notebook computers, smart homes, smart bracelets, smart watches, smart helmets, smart glasses, and the like. The electronic device may also be a handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, or the like.

In simple terms, a wireless access point is a network device that allows WLAN devices to connect to a local area network. The access point acts as a central transmitter and receiver for radio signals. Mainstream wireless access points support Wi-Fi, and are most commonly used in homes, factories, shopping malls, large supermarkets, etc., and support public Internet hotspots and commercial networks to accommodate the proliferation of wireless mobile devices in use today. An access point can be incorporated into a wired router, or it can be a stand-alone device.

An electronic device such as a wireless access point is shown in FIG. 1 , and the electronic device 200 generally includes a housing 203 , a cover 201 , a circuit board 202 and an antenna 100 . The housing 203 and the cover 201 can be assembled together to form an inner space for accommodating the circuit board 202 and the antenna 100 . The circuit board 202 refers to a carrier for carrying a processing circuit (such as a transceiver, etc.) such as a processing unit and an antenna of the electronic device 200 . The antenna 100 and the circuit board 202 can be arranged separately, and the antenna 100 is generally arranged near the inner side of the casing 203 . The antenna 100 and the processing circuit of the antenna are connected through a transmission line such as a coaxial cable, a microstrip line, etc. to feed the antenna unit of the antenna 100 and the like.

Of course, it should be understood that the structure and arrangement of the electronic device shown in FIG. 1 are only schematic, and are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present application. Any other suitable construction or arrangement of electronic devices is also possible, where applicable. For example, in some embodiments, the antenna 100 can also be integrated into the circuit board 202 or set as a part of the frame of the casing 203 or at least partly set outside the casing 203 and so on. In addition, in one embodiment, the form of the antenna 100 may be an antenna form based on a flexible printed circuit (FPC), an antenna form based on laser direct structuring (LDS) or a microstrip antenna (microstripantenna), etc. Antenna form. Hereinafter, the electronic device 200 according to the embodiment of the present application will be described mainly by taking the structure shown in FIG. 1 as an example. It should be understood that other electronic devices 200 are also similar. They will not be described in detail below.

The signal coverage of the wireless access point is usually related to factors such as the radiation pattern of the antenna and the set height. However, the radiation pattern and the installation position of the antenna in a conventional access point are usually fixed, and the radiation range of the access point is also fixed. This makes it difficult for current wireless access points to adapt to diverse environments such as factories and supermarkets, which may easily cause coverage blind spots and signal interference between adjacent access points.

In addition, in large venues, supermarkets, factories, and office scenarios, multiple wireless access points are often used for networking. The number of users may vary over time and the local density of users within a venue may vary over time and various factors. The conventional fixed antenna 100 cannot adjust the radiation pattern and layout position, etc., and it is difficult to realize real-time changes in signal coverage (for example, to adjust with changes in the local density of people) for network load balancing. Therefore, there is an urgent need for an antenna 100 and a corresponding electronic device 200 capable of adjusting beam width and radiation pattern.

In traditional solutions, two types of antennas are usually used in electronic devices such as wireless access points. One antenna has a large beam width, and the other antenna has a small beam width. In some solutions, different antennas are used in different scenarios to meet the requirements of different beam widths. However, the problem caused by this solution is that the beam width is still relatively fixed (basically two beam widths), and real-time adjustment cannot be realized. In addition, since multiple antennas are required, the occupied space is relatively large, which is not conducive to the miniaturization of electronic equipment.

Another traditional solution that can realize real-time adjustment of the beam width is the phased array technology. The phased array antenna refers to an antenna that changes the shape of the pattern by controlling the feeding phase of the radiating elements in the array antenna. Phased array technology uses multiple antennas to form an array, and the total beam of the array is synthesized by superposition of radiation waves from all radiating elements. The radiation phase and radiation angle of each radiating element can be controlled individually, so that the total beam width can be varied and adjusted arbitrarily. However, the main problem with this solution is the high cost. Since this technology requires multiple antennas, in order to control the radiation phase and radiation angle of each antenna, a large number of controllable phase shifters and attenuators are required, resulting in extremely high cost.

In order to solve or at least partially solve the above-mentioned or other potential problems of traditional wireless access points in a cost-effective manner, an antenna 100 and an electronic device 200 using the antenna 100 are provided according to an embodiment of the present application. FIG. 2 shows an exemplary simplified top view of the antenna 100 . As shown in FIG. 2 , generally, an antenna 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a pair of radiating elements and a feeding structure. The radiating element pairs are arranged in a circular array, including a first radiating element 101 and a second radiating element 102 . The first radiating element 101 and the second radiating element 102 may be arranged symmetrically with respect to the line of symmetry 105 . The line of symmetry 105 refers to a straight line passing through the center point 106 of the circular array.

In some embodiments, the pair of radiating elements may be microstrip lines arranged on a circuit board. A microstrip line is a transmission line that can be made into a circuit for transmitting microwave signals on a printed circuit board. It consists of wires, ground and dielectric layers. Things such as the antenna 100, couplers, filters, power dividers, etc. can be formed by microstrip lines. Microstrip lines are cheaper, lighter and more compact than conventional waveguide technology. The circuit board may be, for example, any suitable circuit board capable of carrying microstrip lines, such as a flexible circuit board and a printed circuit board. Of course, it should be understood that as long as there is a corresponding circular array arrangement, the radiating element pairs can be formed in any suitable manner. For example, in some alternative embodiments, the antenna 100 may also be formed by using any suitable ring array of conductors. Hereinafter, the embodiment of the present application will be described mainly by taking the microstrip line arranged on the circuit board shown in FIG. 2 as an example. It should be understood that other situations are similar, and details will not be repeated below.

In addition, FIG. 2 shows that the first radiating element 101 or the second radiating element 102 has two separated sub-radiating elements. It should be understood that this arrangement of the radiating elements is also exemplary and not intended to limit the protection scope of the present disclosure. The first radiating element 101 or the second radiating element 102 may adopt any other suitable structure or arrangement. For example, in some embodiments, the first radiating element 101 and the second radiating element 102 may also include one, three or more sliver radiating elements. Hereinafter, the inventive concept according to the present application will be described mainly by taking each radiating element shown in FIG. 2 as an example including two sub-radiating elements. Other situations are also similar, and will not be described in detail below.

The first radiating element 101 or the second radiating element 102 has an arc roughly centered on the center point 106 of the annular array or extends along a tangential direction of the arc centered on the center point 106, and basically does not have other radial Extend branches. For example, in some embodiments, each sub-radiating element may be generally arc-shaped, and may be centered on the center point 106 of the annular array. Of course, it should be understood that this is only illustrative and not intended to limit the protection scope of the present disclosure. Any other suitable configuration or arrangement is also possible. For example, in some alternative embodiments, at least a part of each radiating element or each sub-radiating element may extend along a tangential direction of an arc centered on the central point. For example, in some embodiments, the sub-radiating element may have a straight line shape and extend approximately along a tangent direction of an arc centered on a central point. In some alternative embodiments, the sub-radiating element may also roughly have a bent shape with multiple bent lines or any other suitable shape, and a part thereof extends along the tangent direction of the arc centered on the central point.

The electrical lengths of the first radiating element 101 and the second radiating element 102 in the circumferential direction may be substantially equal to half of the corresponding wavelength of the frequency band in which the antenna 100 works. "About" here means that considering factors such as manufacturing process and impedance matching, the electrical length L of the radiating element can be in the range of 10% (for example, 5%) of about half of the corresponding wavelength λ, that is, 1 /2λ×(1-10%)≤L≤1/2λ×(1+10%) or 1/2λ×(1-5%)≤L≤1/2λ×(1+5%). The wavelength in this application may be the wavelength corresponding to the center frequency of the working frequency band supported by the antenna, or the wavelength in the medium corresponding to the center frequency of the working frequency band supported by the antenna. For example, assuming that the center frequency of the B1 uplink frequency band (resonance frequency is 1920MHz to 1980MHz) is 1955MHz, the wavelength can be the wavelength calculated using the frequency of 1955MHz, or the calculated wavelength in the medium (referred to as the medium wavelength). Not limited to the center frequency, the "wavelength/medium wavelength" may also refer to the wavelength/medium wavelength corresponding to the resonant frequency or the non-center frequency of the working frequency band. For ease of understanding, the medium wavelength mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be simply understood as a wavelength.

For example, corresponding to the frequency band in which the resonant frequency of the antenna 100 is 1920 MHz to 1980 MHz, the wavelength corresponding to the center frequency of 1955 MHz in this frequency band is 15 cm, and thus the circumference of the first radiating element 101 or the second radiating element 102 is calculated The length is about 5cm to 9cm. For the scheme shown in FIG. 2, each sub-radiating element in the first radiating element 101 may be equal in length, and basically have an electrical length of 1/4 wavelength, corresponding to the physical length, considering impedance matching and other factors, the length of each sub-radiating element is about 3cm-5cm.

The feeding structure comprises a first feeding part 103 and a second feeding part 104 coupled to the first radiating element 101 and the second radiating element 102 respectively. Considering factors such as impedance matching, the feeding point where each feeding portion is coupled to the sub-radiating element of the corresponding radiating element may be located in the middle of each sub-radiating element, as shown in FIG. 2 . It should be understood that this is only illustrative and not intended to limit the protection scope of the present disclosure. Any other suitable feeding position is also possible as long as impedance matching can be achieved. Hereinafter, the inventive concept of the present disclosure will be mainly described in the position shown in FIG. 2 . It should be understood that the power feeding at other positions is also similar, and details will not be repeated hereafter.

The first feeding part 103 is used for providing the excitation current with integral phase and amplitude to the first radiating element 101 . For ease of understanding, the excitation current provided by the first power feeder 103 will be referred to as a first excitation current, which has a first phase and a first amplitude. The second feeding part 104 is used for providing a second excitation current with a second phase and a second amplitude to the second radiating element 102 .

It can be seen from the above description that the antenna in the embodiment of the present application adopts a pair of radiation elements having an arc structure or a structure extending in a tangential direction and arranged axially symmetrically. In this way, by feeding both radiating elements with the first excitation current and the second excitation current, a mixed mode antenna can be realized. Specifically, the mixed-mode antenna has at least two working modes. In the first working mode, the directions of the exciting currents in the first radiating element 101 and the second radiating element 102 are along the same rotation direction, and the radiation of the antenna has a wider beam at this time. In the second working mode, the directions of excitation currents in the first radiating element 101 and the second radiating element 102 are along opposite rotation directions, and the radiation of the antenna has a narrower beam at this time. Using the antenna with this structure, based on the principle of superposition, the first mode and the second mode can be mixed in any proportion, so as to achieve more beam widths. In addition, the radiating element pairs of the antenna 100 are arranged in a circular array, which occupies less space, thereby realizing a compact antenna design. By arranging the antenna's radiating elements in a circular array, an omnidirectional antenna with multiple beamwidths is realized in a compact structure.

In some embodiments, during the use of the antenna, at least one of the first amplitude, the second amplitude, the first phase, and the second phase can be adjusted in real time according to parameters required by the antenna, such as beam width, etc. Or adjust online. In some embodiments, the first magnitude and the second magnitude may have one or more predetermined proportional relationships.

The scheme of two feeders of the feed structure can be realized by the power divider 111 . That is to say, in some embodiments, the antenna 100 may further include a power splitter 111 . The power divider 111, also referred to as a power divider for short, is a device that divides the energy of one input signal into two or more outputs with equal or unequal energy. The technical indicators of the power divider include frequency range, withstand power, distribution loss from main circuit to branch circuit, insertion loss between input and output, isolation between branch circuit ports, voltage standing wave ratio of each port, etc.

For example, in some embodiments power divider 111 may comprise a variable power divider. In this case, the first feed 103 is coupled to a first output port of the power splitter 111 and the second feed 104 is coupled to a second output port of the power splitter 111 . The two output ports of the variable power divider can output two excitation currents with varying phase and amplitude relationships. The amplitude and phase of the first excitation current and the second excitation current can be varied within a certain range. For example, at least one of the first phase and the first magnitude of the first excitation current and the second phase and second magnitude of the second excitation current can be adjusted to achieve a desired beamwidth of the antenna. In this way, real-time adjustment of the beam width of the antenna can be realized.

In some alternative embodiments, power divider 111 comprises a fixed ratio power divider. The amplitudes of the excitation currents output by the two output ports of the fixed-ratio power divider have a predetermined proportional relationship, and the phases have a predetermined phase relationship. In this way, the normal zero point in the radiation pattern can be filled when the antenna works in the first mode, thereby eliminating the signal blind zone.

The inventive concept according to the present disclosure will be described below by taking the first feeder 103 and the second feeder 104 respectively coupled to the two output ports of the variable power divider as an example. Figure 3 (A) shows that in this case, the amplitude and phase changes of the first excitation current I1 and the second excitation current I2 that can be provided by the first power feeder 103 and the second power feeder 104 respectively The diagram, Figure 3(B) shows the resulting variable beamwidth situation. It can be seen that by changing the ratio of the amplitude of the excitation current (adjusted to other ratios) and/or the difference between the phases (between 0° and 180°), the required radiation pattern and beam width can be generated, Therefore, the requirement of the radiation direction of the electronic device 200 is met. For example, when the phase difference of the excitation current is adjusted between 0° and 180°, the antenna beam can be swayed from side to side, so that the antenna can radiate to different positions according to needs, so as to improve the radiation range of the antenna.

In some embodiments, the proportional relationship between the current amplitudes of the excitation currents provided by the first power feeder 103 and the second power feeder 104 can be adjusted from 0:1 to 1:1 and/or from 1:1 to 1:0, where these ratio ranges are inclusive. That is to say, the proportional relationship between the current amplitudes of the excitation currents provided by the first power feeder 103 and the second power feeder 104 can be 0:1, 1:0, 1:1 or any ratio between them relation. For example, in some embodiments, the current amplitudes of the excitation currents provided by the first power feeder 103 and the second power feeder 104 can be equal (that is, the case of 1:1), and the phases are also the same, corresponding to The situation where the abscissa is 0 in Fig. 3(A). In this way, when the excitation currents provided by the two power feeders have equal amplitudes and same phases, induced currents with the same rotation direction will be excited on the radiating element pair, as shown in FIG. 4(A). At this time, the antenna 100 works in the first mode mentioned above. In this mode, the radiation pattern of the antenna 100 is as shown in FIG. 4(B). In this case, the antenna 100 has a wider beam width. As mentioned above, in some embodiments, the normal null point in the radiation pattern can be filled when the antenna works in the first mode by using a fixed-ratio power divider to provide feed, thereby eliminating the signal blind zone . When the excitation currents provided by the two feeders have equal amplitudes but opposite phases, opposite current directions will be excited on the radiation element, as shown in FIG. 5(A). At this time, the antenna 100 works in the second mode. In this mode, the radiation pattern of the antenna 100 is shown in FIG. 5(B). In this case, the antenna 100 has a narrow beam width.

It can be seen that only when the excitation current provided by the first power feeder 103 and the second power feeder 104 has an amplitude ratio of 1:1 and a phase change, it is possible to excite the excitation currents corresponding to different radiation directions. Two different modes of graph and beamwidth. Based on the principle of superposition, the first mode and the second mode can be mixed in any ratio (for example, from 0:1 to 1:1 and/or from 1:1 to 1:0), and only need to change the magnitude of the excitation current ratio (adjusted to other ratios) and/or the difference between the phases (between 0° and 180°), the antenna 100 can work in more working modes, so that the pattern of the antenna can be adjusted as required Various forms such as axisymmetric or asymmetric are adjusted.

In some embodiments, the aforementioned power divider 111 may be a variable power divider, so as to be able to provide an excitation current with a predetermined amplitude ratio and phase relationship at the output port. In this way, real-time adjustment of the radiation direction and beam width of the antenna 100 can be realized in a more convenient and cost-effective manner. In some alternative embodiments, the power divider 111 may be a fixed-ratio power divider, and the first feeder 103 and the second feeder 104 also respectively correspond to two output ports of the fixed-ratio power divider. By providing an excitation current with one or more fixed ratios (for example, the fixed ratio can be any appropriate ratio from 1000:1 to 2:1) of the first amplitude and the second amplitude, the aforementioned can also be made in the first The blind spot of the radiation pattern (as shown in Fig. 4) in the mode is filled, thereby avoiding the signal blind area and expanding the beam width, as shown in Fig. 6.

In one embodiment, when the radius of the circular array is large, since the distance between the radiating elements is correspondingly increased at this time, grating lobe effects may appear in the radiation pattern of the antenna. The grating lobe refers to the radiation lobe whose strength is similar to the main lobe due to the superposition of field strength in other directions except the main lobe. The grating lobes occupy the radiated energy and reduce the antenna gain. In this case, in order to further improve the performance of the antenna 100, for example, when the radius of the circular array is greater than about 1/2 wavelength, a reflector may be provided at the center of the antenna 100. For example, in some embodiments, a first reflector 107 may be disposed along the line of symmetry 105 at the center of the circular array of radiating element pairs of the antenna 100, and the first reflector 107 may be symmetrical with respect to the center point 106 and shared with the line of symmetry 105. line, as shown in Figure 7. The collinear here means that the side or center line of the first reflector 107 along the extension direction is collinear with the symmetry line. In this case, when equal-amplitude and anti-phase excitation currents are provided on the first radiating element 101 and the second radiating element 102, the current shown in FIG. 8 will be excited on the radiating element and the first reflector 107. direction. In this way, the first reflector 107 can be used as a parasitic radiating element to radiate energy outward in substantially the same manner as the first radiating element 101 and the second radiating element 102 . In this case, the presence of the first reflector 107 is equivalent to reducing the distance between the radiation elements. The reduction of the distance between the radiating elements can effectively avoid the generation of the grating lobe effect, thereby increasing the gain of the antenna, and thus providing an improved second mode.

In some embodiments, in addition to the first reflector 107, a second reflector 108 vertically arranged to the first reflector 107 may also be provided at the center of the annular array, as shown in FIG. 9 . In some embodiments, the first reflector 107 and the second reflector 108 may be integrally formed or formed in any other suitable manner. In this case, the first reflector 107 and the second reflector 108 constitute a cross-shaped radiating element centered on the central point 106 of the antenna and operating in the antenna working frequency band. In this way, a dual-polarization reflector can be realized, thereby further improving various performances of the antenna 100 .

As shown in FIG. 10 , in some embodiments, in order to further improve various performances of the antenna 100 , the antenna 100 may further include a parasitic radiation element. In particular, the antenna 100 may comprise a first parasitic radiating element 109 arranged adjacent to the first radiating element 101 . In the case that the first radiating element 101 includes multiple sub-radiating elements, the first parasitic radiating element 109 may also include corresponding multiple parasitic sub-radiating elements. Similarly, the antenna 100 may also include a second parasitic radiating element 110 arranged adjacent to the second radiating element 102, and the number of parasitic sub-radiating elements in the second parasitic radiating element 110 may correspond to the number of radiating elements of the second radiating element 102 . Furthermore, the first parasitic radiating element 109 is parallel to the first radiating element, and the second parasitic radiating element 110 is parallel to the second radiating element.

The parallelism of the parasitic radiating element and the corresponding radiating element may include various situations. For example, in some embodiments, when the first radiating element 101 is arc-shaped, the first parasitic radiating element 109 being parallel to the first radiating element 101 means that the first parasitic radiating element 109 is also arc-shaped, and parallel to the first parasitic radiating element 109. A radiating element 101 is arranged concentrically. Similarly, when the second radiating element 102 is arc-shaped, the second parasitic radiating element 110 being parallel to the second radiating element 102 means that the second parasitic radiating element 110 is also arc-shaped, and is the same as the second radiating element 102. Carefully arranged.

In some embodiments, when the first radiating element 101 is linear, the first parasitic radiating element 109 being parallel to the first radiating element 101 means that the first parasitic radiating element 109 is also linear and parallel to the first radiating The elements 101 are arranged in parallel. Similarly, when the second radiating element 102 is linear, the second parasitic radiating element 110 being parallel to the second radiating element 102 means that the second parasitic radiating element 110 is also linear and parallel to the second radiating element 102 ground layout.

In some embodiments, when the first radiating element 101 has a bent shape with multiple bending lines or any other suitable shape, the fact that the first parasitic radiating element 109 is parallel to the first radiating element 101 means that the first parasitic radiating element 109 is also It has a shape similar to that of the first radiating element 101 or a part of the first radiating element 101 , and both are parallel or concentric. The situation of the second radiating element 102 and the second parasitic radiating element 110 is also similar, which will not be repeated here.

Of course, in some embodiments, the shape of the radiation element and the corresponding parasitic radiation element may also be different. For example, in some embodiments, the first radiation element 101 or the second radiation element 102 may be in the shape of a straight line, and the shape of the line is along the The tangential direction of the arc centered at the center point 106 extends. Different from the previous embodiments, the first parasitic radiating element 109 or the second parasitic radiating element 109 can be correspondingly arc-shaped with the center point 106 as the center, and vice versa.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, similar to the first radiating element 101 and the second radiating element 102 , the first parasitic radiating element 109 and the second parasitic radiating element 110 may be arranged symmetrically with respect to the line of symmetry 105 . For example, the first parasitic radiating element 109 and the second parasitic radiating element 110 may be arranged concentrically with the first radiating element 101 and the second radiating element 102, respectively. In this way, the wide beam width antenna 100 can be realized while widening the operating frequency band of the antenna, thereby further improving the performance of the antenna 100 .

The sub-radiating element of each parasitic radiating element can be arranged adjacent to the center of the corresponding sub-radiating element of the radiating element, as shown in Figure 10, and the length can be approximately 1/3 to 3/4 of each sub-radiating element, for example 1/2 of the length of the corresponding sub-radiating element. It should be understood that this is only illustrative and not intended to limit the protection scope of the present disclosure. Any other suitable arrangement or structure is similar. For example, in some alternative embodiments, for some frequency bands, in order to optimize the performance of the antenna 100, the length of each parasitic radiating element may be approximately equal to the length of the corresponding radiating element.

Although the application has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are merely example implementations of the claims.

Claims (15)

1. An antenna, comprising: A pair of radiating elements, comprising a first radiating element (101) and a second radiating element (102) arranged in a circular array, the first radiating element (101) and the second radiating element (102) are relative to the line of symmetry ( 105), the symmetry line (105) passes through the center point (106) of the circular array, and the first radiating element (101) or the second radiating element (102) is in the shape of the center an arc centered at a point (106), or extending along a tangent to an arc centered at said center point (106); and A feed structure, comprising a first feed part (103) and a second feed part (104), the first feed part (103) is coupled to the first radiating element (101) and used to feed the first A radiating element (101) provides a first excitation current with a first phase and a first amplitude, and the second feeding part (104) is coupled to the second radiating element (102) and configured to feed the second The radiating element (102) provides a second excitation current having a second phase and a second magnitude. 2. The antenna of claim 1, wherein the first excitation current and the second excitation current originate from the same excitation signal. 3. The antenna of claim 1, further comprising: A first reflector (107) is arranged at the center of the annular array and is symmetrical with respect to the center point (106), and the first reflector (107) is collinear with the symmetry line (105). 4. The antenna of claim 3, further comprising: A second reflector (108) is arranged at the center of the annular array and is symmetrical with respect to the center point (106), and the second reflector (108) is perpendicular to the first reflector (107). 5. The antenna according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the first radiating element (101) and the second radiating element (102) each comprise at least two sub-radiating elements, and the at least two Each of the sub-radiating elements is coupled to a corresponding feed. 6. The antenna according to any one of claims 1-5, further comprising: a first parasitic radiating element (109), arranged adjacent to said first radiating element (101); and A second parasitic radiating element (110) is arranged adjacent to said second radiating element (102). 7. The antenna according to claim 6, wherein said first parasitic radiating element (109) is parallel to said first radiating element (101); said second parasitic radiating element (110) is parallel to said second radiating element The elements (102) are parallel. 8. The antenna according to any one of claims 1-7, wherein said first magnitude and said second magnitude have a predetermined proportional relationship, and The first phase and the second phase have a predetermined phase relationship. 9. The antenna according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein said first amplitude and said second amplitude range from 0:1 to 1:1 and/or from 1:0 to 1: adjustable within a range of 1. 10. The antenna according to any one of claims 1-9, wherein the first phase and the second phase are adjusted to be the same or opposite. 11. The antenna according to any one of claims 1-10, wherein the lengths of the first radiating element (101) and the second radiating element (102) in the circumferential direction are each approximately the working length of the antenna One-half of the corresponding wavelength of the frequency band. 12. The antenna according to any one of claims 1-11, further comprising: a power divider (111), comprising an input port, a first output port and a second output port, the excitation signal is input to the power divider (111) via the input port, and The first output port is coupled to the first feed (103), and the second output port is coupled to the second feed (104). 13. The antenna according to claim 12, wherein the power divider (111) comprises a fixed ratio power divider. 14. The antenna according to claim 12, wherein said power divider (111) comprises a variable power divider, and said first phase, said first amplitude and said first excitation current of said first excitation current At least one of the second phase and the second magnitude of a second excitation current can be adjusted. 15. An electronic device comprising: An antenna according to any one of claims 1-14; and a radio frequency module, used for communicating using the antenna.

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